The big change in Office 2013 is the way it’s sold. Microsoft is heavily pushing annual subscriptions to Office over the one-time purchase we’re used to.

You can still buy Office 2013 ‘off the shelf’ but it costs more because you get a lot less than in the past.

We have detailed advice on how to buy Microsoft Office for less that retail.In fact our motto is

“Never pay retail”

We also have detailed advice on the computer hardware that’s best to run Office 2013, far more information than Microsoft’s brief and understated system requirements on page 16.

We’ll take you step-by-step through the online purchase of an Office 2013/Office 365 subscription

How to try out Office 2013 without uninstalling your current version of Office – on page 41

Portable Office

Office on Demand is a unique and useful portable option that’s worth checking out. It’s only available to people with the Office 365 subscription. We look at Office on Demand on page 10.

Install

Microsoft likes to push the line that installing their software is simple and easy. For the most part it is easy, but there are things that you should do to make your computing is more stable and efficient starting on page 21.

Step-by-Step with Click-To-Run

This ebook will take you step-by-step through an Office 2013 installation. Both the ‘traditional’ download or disk installation AND the newer ‘Click To Run’ installation that’s very different from what we’re all used to (on page 66).

64-bit Office 2013 has special considerations, which we look at in detail starting on page 34.

Microsoft’s Product Activation helps them prevent software piracy and usually works fine for customers. We show you how to avoid activation problems and plead your case to Microsoft on page 58

Configure

What Microsoft wants isn’t necessarily what you need. Microsoft chooses the original settings based on what they think people want and, occasionally, some marketing agenda. This book suggests easy changes to make, starting on page 64

The ribbon interface has a lot more going on than most people realize. Starting on page 101 we go into the ribbon in detail, the features and shortcuts as well as the changed things in Office 2013. Then on page 115 see how it can be easily changed in Office 2013.

The Quick Access Toolbar can also be loaded up with your most commonly used commands – we have step-by-step instructions on page 121.